Bullet Wounds and Broken Noses
by rcruz1234
Summary: Callie is forced to confront her feelings for Erica when an old friend of Erica’s shows up at the hospital.
1. Chapter 1

Bullet Wounds and Broken Noses (Chapter 1)

Author: rcruz

_**Disclaimer: **__If I owned them, things would look a lot different. The characters, settings, established histories, and general Grey's Anatomy universe referenced in this work are properties of their respective owners. This is a work of fiction for entertainment purposes only. No copyright infringement is intended._

Summary: Callie is forced to confront her feelings for Erica when an old friend of Erica's shows up at the hospital.

Author's Note: This is a very short piece that can be appropriately labeled AU. In this universe, the Stephens thing did not happen and Erica breaks up with Callie after she finds out about the whole Mark thing. This picks up a couple of days after the breakup. It's a little different than what I am used to doing, so we'll see if it works.

_Sometimes a person moves too slow, takes too much for granted, deliberating and processing to a point that she comes dangerously close to losing everything. _

Chapter 1 - Sam

Charting had to be the worst part of being a doctor. Callie understood it was necessary, essential really, especially if you expected a patient to live through a hospital stay. But charting was boring. So instead of charting like she was supposed to be, Callie was looking for a distraction. She had come down to the clinic to chart, wanting to steer clear, for now, of Dr. Erica Hahn, her friend and almost girlfriend. They had ended their involvement shortly after it had begun. So shortly in fact, that there was some question as to whether it actually counted as a relationship. It hadn't been Callie's idea. She hadn't wanted to break-up, but she understood why Erica did. When she thought about it, considered everything that had happened, she understood and had even concluded that it was probably a good idea. It gave them both time to work things out, process things without the pressures of a relationship. It was for the best. At least that's what Callie kept telling herself.

What she had not anticipated, was how much it would just suck. She missed Erica. She missed the coffees they were constantly getting for each other, she missed doing sunrise yoga with her, she missed the kissing. She really missed the kissing. Most of all she missed her friend. She missed her smile and damn it, she just missed her! She was surprised by how much Erica's post break-up behavior bothered her. It had been nothing by cold and angry glances from Erica the last two days. And that was part of the reason she had come down to the clinic to chart. Erica never came to the clinic. The other reason of course was because charting was boring. But amazingly, nothing seemed to be happening in the clinic, nothing exciting anyway. Everyone just seemed to be sitting around waiting. There was the couple waiting in Bed No. 1 with what looked like a tired 3 year-old. There was the elderly man sitting and waiting for God knows what in Bed 2. There was a younger woman sitting in Bed 3 holding her right arm, which appeared to be bleeding. Just when she was about to give up all hope for a decent distraction from the tedious task of charting, she heard the voice she least expected to hear in this particular space.

"Samantha Ruiz! What trouble have you gotten yourself into?"

"Nothing really. It's just a scratch."

It was the woman holding her arm who responded to Dr. Erica Hahn, the very person Callie had been hoping to avoid. Callie noted her smile, the way the woman' s eyes followed Erica's body as Erica made her way to the bed, where the woman sat perched comfortably.

Erica's hands were in her lab coat, but she was smiling. She was smiling, actually smiling for a patient. She was giving this patient the type of smile Callie thought was reserved for her. The one she saw after hours at Joe's or sitting in her apartment toasting the end of the day.

Suddenly Callie Torres was very interested in what was going on in Bed 3.

She had not missed the way both women's eyes had brightened upon seeing one another. She had certainly noted the easy familiarity they seemed to have. Erica Hahn did not have many friends. She had told Callie that. So who in the fuck was this woman?

Callie had come here purposely knowing Erica rarely came to the clinic, but now Erica was here being too friendly with some stranger. So what if she seemed to know the stranger. Callie didn't.

Their break-up, Callie had decided, had been inevitable, but so was their reconciliation. Callie was sure of it. They would get back together. They were just...different in how they dealt with things and Callie needed some space before everything could mesh for her. Callie was different than Erica. Her whole life had just changed and she needed time to get comfortable in her own skin again. But Erica, the cardio-genius that she was could just adapt. It had scared the hell out of her to hear Erica tell her she was her glasses; that she was some kind of light-shining-down-angels-singing-from-on-high revelation for Erica, because with Callie things didn't happen that quickly. She had to think, process, do stupid things before she was ready to settle into her new skin. It was like breaking in a new pair of shoes. They don't feel comfortable at first and all you want to do is take them off, but eventually, eventually they get to be so comfortable that they start to feel like they're a part of your own anatomy.

Callie hadn't been as ready as Erica. She knew that Erica had a drive that was unmatched. Not even Yang in all her brilliance and arrogance really matched the passion and drive that Erica seemed to possess. That drive had made her one of the top cardio-thoracic surgeons in the country. Callie suspected that Erica tackled all of life's obstacles in the same way she approached surgeries: analyze, consider your next steps and then act. Callie had been hoping, praying really, that Erica would ride out the uncertainty with her, would let her work things out in whatever way she needed to and just be patient with her. But she also knew how unfair that was to Erica. In was unfair to expect Erica to take a wait and see approach, to just sit patiently and let Callie work out her neuroses and hope that Callie would still want her at the end of it all. It was unreasonable. Callie knew that and so she had very reluctantly let Erica go.

Initially, she had thought Erica was okay with everything that had happened. Erica had told her she was okay. But that had not been the case. Erica was not okay, so not okay with Callie's behavior, which Callie understood in a way. Callie was not okay with her own behavior. She had been freaking out and when she freaked, she generally tended to act in ways that were indirectly self-destructive. She didn't jump in front of moving trains or anything, but she did things to sabotage herself. George O'Malley was a case in point. She had liked him, but because he didn't like her as much as she liked him, and because his friends didn't like her at all, she had freaked out. And freaked-out Callie did stupid things like marry him on a whim. She had married him knowing he didn't love her. She had loved him, but in a weird way. It was almost as if the fact that he didn't love her was a challenge to her, something she had to overcome. She had wanted to make him love her, thought marrying him would accomplish that. She was over that now.

Her and George had tried to make it work, but they both knew it wouldn't and it was just a matter of how it would end. It had ended badly for her because even though she loved him in a weird way, it still hurt that he had slept with Izzie. It hurt even more that he lied about it for a while. It was the reason she had told Erica about her own kind-of infidelity with Mark right after it had happened. But it wasn't the same kind of betrayal, she had rationalized. Her and Erica weren't married, they hadn't made any vows. Still she hadn't wanted Erica to not know and then find out in some messed up way.

Erica had said she was okay with it. Callie had been surprised by the response, shocked even, but she shoved that aside, counted her lucky stars and tried to start over. It had lasted all of seventy six minutes. Seventy six minutes later Erica Hahn had found her at Joe's, where she had ended up with Mark of all people and just told Callie she wasn't okay. She had been calm. There had been no angry shouting, no hysterics. She had just stated matter-of-factly that she wasn't okay, the whole situation wasn't okay, Callie wasn't okay, the whole hospital wasn't okay. And then she left. That had been two days ago.

It was difficult. Their friendship had obviously cooled and Callie found her life a lot emptier without Erica in it. She missed Erica. She never doubted that she would eventually feel comfortable, that she would process all the neuroses and end up at Erica's door ready and able to start a life with her. She was getting there. She really was. They would get back together.

But the woman sitting in Bed 3 was fucking with her plan!

Callie watched Erica and the woman intently and barely noted when someone joined her at the nurse's station. She felt a nudge that forced her eyes away from Hahn and her patient who were now talking amiably, while Hahn examined her arm. Annoyed she looked to her right.

"What?" she asked clearly irritated.

"You keep staring like that and you might just bore a hole in one or both of them."

Bailey had little time for all the romantic ups and downs of Seattle Grace, but had long ago resigned herself with having to cope with them.

"Whatever," Callie responded; trying to dismiss Bailey and returning her attention back to the chart she had been filling out. For a few seconds the subtle scratching of pens on clipboard could be heard even over the chaotic noise that served as a permanent background.

"Who is that woman?" Callie asked her pen still on the paper moving fast and furiously in unrecognizable patterns.

"Don't know," answered Bailey also seemingly immersed in charts. "She came in asking specifically for Hahn. She said she was a cop."

"A cop?" Callie was now thoroughly intrigued. She could not hear any of the women's conversation from her place at the nurse's station, but there was no mistaking that these two knew and liked each other. She glanced their way again, heedless of what it might look like.

Erica was performing what looked like a routine examination. The patient was a tall woman, kind of young looking, with wavy brown hair that went over her ears, but was not quite long enough to make it shoulder length. Still, it was too long, Callie decided and it didn't look good. She looked like a shaggy dog. Her perusal was cut short as Erica reached for the curtain and abruptly blocked Callie's view.

* * *

"I wasn't sure you'd come down and attend to us lowly non-complicated patients."

"I could just ask an intern to take a look at you, so please a little respect? Otherwise, just shut-up."

"Yes, doctor," Sam had replied smiling.

Samantha was smiling unashamedly. It had been almost an after-thought to come here instead of Mercy. Mercy was "the" hospital that law enforcement in her precinct went to if they got hurt. Many of the victims of violent crimes in the area ended up there, so cops spent a lot of time there. That was probably why they felt comfortable going there themselves when they got hurt. They knew the doctor's there and it was just familiar. That was where Sam had met Erica Hahn the first time. But Erica's move to Seattle Grace had brought an end to quick lunches at the hospital, which had seriously cut down on how much she saw her friend. Ultimately that had also resulted into fewer dinners and less time with her friend outside the hospital. Looking at her now, Sam instantly regretted that she and Erica had allowed their friendship to slip away from them like that.

She liked the doctor's no-nonsense attitude. She had first met her on the Rhineland case. They had requested a consult on a cause of death because there had been some debate within the crime lab. The victim had either died of a heart condition or from a beating. In her mind it should have been an easy determination, but the beating had in reality not been harsh and the man had a pretty severe heart condition, so the forensic team was unsure of cause of death.

She had expected mere speculation, more non-answers, but Dr. Erica Hahn was not interested in that. She had been asked to consult as the top cardio surgeon and she had not been happy to be "wasting time" with the police on an already dead guy she could do nothing about. But she relented and gave a thorough explanation of the guy's condition and exactly what type of beating it would have taken to kill him. His heart condition, she had authoritatively declared was the prime suspect. The beating certainly didn't help, but it was not the primary cause. Had he had a stronger heart, he would have more than survived. Despite the fact that her report literally left them up a creek without a paddle, Sam had appreciated the no-holds barred, afraid of no one, straightforward attitude.

Being thoroughly dismissed, her and her partner had skulked away and agreed to meet the next day to see if they still had a case. She had thought about going home that night, but decided she was too restless, so she drove around. Driving usually calmed her. It had been on her aimless drive that she had run into Dr. Hahn a second time, stranded on the side of the road with not one, but two flat tires. She had thought it was fate at the time. She had thought a lot of things. She had mistakenly thought Hahn was gay and interested. She had thought Hahn would be grateful for the help. Instead Hahn cursed her out, blaming Sam for her late departure and the subsequent flat tires. Sam had found the whole thing funny. The woman was being ridiculous, how could she not find it funny?

They had ended up at Sam's cousin's bar sharing drinks. After a few false stops and starts involving miscommunications and crossed signals, they had become friends. She had seen Hahn at work and knew she could be harsh and unforgiving, but she had also been lucky enough to know her personally. And personally Erica Hahn was a very loving person. In fact, the paradox that was her friend sometimes worried Sam. Erica had become so adept at holding people at bay, at scrutinizing those she let close to her, that she held almost everyone at bay. When someone was able to claw through the tangled mess of vines that guarded her heart, they found a very vulnerable woman whose heart was as new and tender as the bottom of a baby's feet, overly sensitive, having not had time to develop a tough exterior. Erica was a woman of extremes. You were either in or out and Sam worried about the devastation someone could cause Erica when she let them in, because she would open to them so fully, her chest cavity might as well be open.

She hadn't seen her in months. In fact, she had seen her only once since Erica had started her gig at Grace. Their jobs were demanding and so she had thought nothing of it. But seeing her sauntering into the clinic reminded her of why she liked this woman and she vowed that she would make more of an effort to bolster their friendship.

"What did you do?" asked Erica just looking at her, hands stuffed into her lab coat. She was still as beautiful as Sam remembered, long hair cascading interestingly over her shoulders. But she looked different, wound up, tense. Even the smile she had given Sam seemed subdued.

"I fell out of a car."

Erica's eyebrows rose, but she did not move.

"It was moving at the time."

Erica's eyes widened as she moved closer; she carefully eyed the bruises and scratches liberally covering Sam's right side.

"Well first I was shot in the arm, but that had already been taken care of at Mercy. The bullet's gone and they stitched me up, but..." she stopped wanting to gauge Erica's reaction. She saw exasperation in Erica's eyes.

"Anyway, I landed on the arm with the stitches and I think some of them broke."

"Christ!" Erica exclaimed and finally removed her hands from her lab coat. "Come on, let's see what kind of damage you've caused."

Erica pulled out a stool and sat trying to exam the wound. She was all business now, poking and prodding her. Finally she stood and starting rifling through cabinets, pulling out various things, most of which Sam could not really name.

"I'm going to have to re-do the work. I have to take out the old stitches, clean up the wound again and put in new stitches."

Sam stared at her blankly. "Okay," she said.

Erica had finished gathering her materials and was staring at her. "It's going to hurt."

"Whatever."

"Okay. Take off your shirt," she instructed.

Sam froze.

Erica turned to find the curtain and closed it around them giving them at least some privacy.

"I'm a doctor, okay, so nothing personal, but that shirt looks like someone dragged it through the mud, so it needs to come off," Erica stated trying to put her at ease as she placed the things she needed on a tray.

"So, do you like it here?" Sam inquired as she started to unbutton her shirt. She was trying to distract herself from the fact that she was going to be kind of naked in front of her friend. Shirt off, Erica started her work.

"I like it fine. It's different than Mercy. Actually, sometimes I don't know if I like it. I can't seem to get into the teaching and everyone here is sometimes so..."

Sam waited a full 30 seconds. "So what?" she finally blurted. Erica's talking was taking her mind off of what Erica was doing, so she couldn't really afford for Erica to just stop talking like that.

"I don't know. Sometimes I like it here. A lot. Other times, the people just drive me nuts. The residents are smart and talented, but...they seem like such children. Everyone is in each other's lives. Everything just becomes so personal around here."

"You seemed friendly with people at Mercy."

"No. We were cordial, collegial with each other, professional. We didn't spend our days fucking in the on-call room. In fact that room is used more for sex than for actual sleeping here. I've stopped sleeping in it because I never know who's been in there or what they've been doing. It's just weird. I'm almost done cleaning this out. Hey do you have something to wear? That shirt you came in is really disgusting and I hate to risk infection with this wound."

"Um, I think I have work-out clothes in the trunk of my car. I guess I can ask Kate to get a shirt from there."

"Who's Kate?"

"Oh you know just my latest straight-girl crush," Sam smiled weakly. "I really know how to pick'em don't I?" she continued. "I mean put me in a room of straight girls and lesbians and I'll pick the straightest one there to develop an impossible crush on. I mean look at you. Completely straight woman and wham, first thing I do is think I'm in love."

Erica looked away, hurriedly gathering the now dirty gauze and dumping it in the garbage. She was seriously avoiding Sam's eyes.

"Her name is Kate, right? I'll go find her."

Sam frowned at Erica's response. Was Erica offended? She thought they were way past the awkward stage about her crush. It was a hundred years ago and totally laughable now. Maybe she was just imagining Erica's discomfort. Maybe the pain in her arm was making her delirious.

She looked up as the curtain opened expecting to see Erica. Instead an absolutely drop dead gorgeous brunette walked in. The brunette seemed surprised to see her without a top. The brunette was dressed in scrubs with a white lab coat so Sam assumed she was a doctor.

"Hi," said Sam a little awkwardly, since she was after all shirtless.

"Um hi. I was looking for Dr. Hahn."

"Yeah she stepped out for a second. She should be back soon."

"Okay."

There was an awkward silence.

"I don't usually see her down here treating patients in the clinic. You know cardio god and all."

Sam was trying to figure angles. Was this women just making small talk until Erica got back? Why did she seem so nervous?

"Yeah. I bet she's pissed I made her come down here."

"No one makes Erica, I mean Dr. Hahn, do anything," said the brunette.

"No, I guess they don't. Well I guess three years of friendship can get me my own personal cardio-god."

The brunette laughed, although it didn't seem genuine to Sam.

"Your own personal cardio-god?" she asked through clenched teeth.

Whoops this woman was having some territory issues.

"Well I guess for a few minutes anyway. I'm Sam. I'm a friend of Erica's."

Sam had decided that she needed to get this back on more familiar ground. She was Erica's friend. She got to make jokes about personal cardio gods - whatever that was. But why was this woman's tone and body language fairly screaming that she definitely did not like the idea of Erica being anyone's personal cardio-god?

"Dr. Callie Torres. I'm a resident here and...a friend."

Sam gave her a questioning look.

"Nice to meet you Dr. Torres."

"Erica's never talked about you."

"Ouch," said Sam although her smile belied any real hurt.

Callie chucklednervously.

"Well, Erica is not known to be a chatterbox. And I haven't seen her a lot since she started here, but at one time she and I talked regularly."

The curtain parted again.

"I got your shirt." Erica stopped dead on seeing Callie.

"Dr. Torres. What can I do for you?"

Callie averted her eyes momentarily before responding. "I saw you here and was um...wondering if you needed any help."

"I'm a surgeon. I can handle a few stitches."

The tone was completely foreign to Sam. She had known Erica professionally, but she had never heard this ice cold hardness from her.

"Right, well...um…it was nice meeting you Sam." With a final glance at Erica the brunette turned and made her way out of the little alcove created by the curtain.

"What was that?" asked Sam.

"Nothing," came the cold response spoken with a finality that was so clear, Sam decided it was best not to continue her line of questioning. But...one did not train at the police academy and not learn a thing or two about getting information from people.

"So damn, how cool are you to get a resident offering to help with sutures? That is pretty sweet."

"They all want to help with everything. They kiss ass, so they can scrub in on my surgeries. It's really quite..."

Sam waited, knowing that a word from her at this point would only shut down the fountain of information.

Erica seemed to be struggling with finishing the thought, though. Seconds turned into minutes.

"She was nice," Sam tried a different tact. "Incredibly hot too."

She had been trying to figure out what line of questioning would work on her friend. The comment about Callie's hotness had been dropped almost innocuously. The woman was clearly hot, but the words produced a complete stillness in the person working beside her. Erica had been working in a rhythm, so the stopping was noticeable. Sam felt it in the small pull of her skin or rather the lack thereof. Okay something was definitely up.

"Erica? You alright?"

The work started anew. "Yeah. I'm fine."

"Listen let me take you to dinner tonight. We haven't gone in forever. Plus I have a nagging suspicion you could use a friend right now."

She saw Erica reach for the surgical scissors on the tray she had prepared and watched her finish.

Erica sighed heavily as she began cleaning up.

"Erica? You know I'll just keep bugging you. Besides, I haven't seen you in months. Come on, you can tell me all about this place and why it drives you crazy."

"Yeah. That sounds good. Besides, I think I have to tell you something."

"Okay."

"I'll save it for dinner. Why don't we meet at your cousin's place at 8?"

"Perfect."

* * *


	2. Chapter 2

Bullet Wounds and Broken Noses (Chapter 2)

Author: rcruz

_**Disclaimer:**__If I owned them, things would look a lot different. The characters, settings, established histories, and general Grey's Anatomy universe referenced in this work are properties of their respective owners. This is a work of fiction for entertainment purposes only. No copyright infringement is intended._

Author's Note: This is a very short piece that can be appropriately labeled AU. In this universe, the Stephens thing did not happen and Erica breaks up with Callie after she finds out about the whole Mark thing.

One of our favorite gals makes a crucial decision…

* * *

_Sometimes a person moves too fast, running away at the first sign of danger and pain, moving so fast in fact that they miss important markers, those signs that warn of even bigger dangers ahead, like sharp curves that cannot be taken at top speed, lest you fall right off the cliff._

Chapter 2 - Erica

Walking. Walking. Walking. She needed to concentrate on the walking and not the implications of what she was about to do. Some part of her wondered if it was right, but she was used to making split second decisions and living with the consequences of those decisions, so she just turned that doubtful part off and kept walking.

But she knew it was there and for the first time in her life, the niggling doubt would just not go away. It was like being in uncomfortable clothes. You could get along and even forget about the discomfort, but every once in awhile, the body's movement caused unnecessary strain, a shirt pulling to close to skin, a seam a little out of place, causing irritation in inconvenient places.

She continued to walk trying to count steps as she went, trying not to think about what it would mean to leave here, to leave Callie. But she had no choice. She couldn't stay and run into her all the time, work with her, interact with her and most especially she knew she could not handle Callie and Sloan together.

She had seen them earlier, talking heads bowed, standing very close to each other. Mark had reached out to Callie, squeezing her shoulder in what Erica supposed was a show of support. It could have been something else, she knew. It could have been an invitation even. But she really preferred not to think about that. It had been hard enough to swallow her pride and accept that Callie had gone to Sloan for sexual advice just at the start of their relationship. That wasn't so bad, she thought, when Callie had started to tell her about it. But when it became clear how he had provided sexual advice, she had shut down completely.

She told Callie that everything was okay, something she would have never done in a relationship before Callie. But then, Callie had changed everything for her and the irrational fear of losing her had been too large. It was larger than her ego - as impossible as that sounded. It was larger than her discomfort, her jealousy, her pride. So she let it pass knowing that Callie was struggling with the implications of their developing relationship in ways that Erica was just not.

But then the fear was surpassed by the hurt and anger and she realized that she was not okay. Things were so not okay with them. How could they be? If Callie had been struggling with being gay, it would be one thing, but according to Callie - she wasn't. She wasn't gay. She had made that abundantly clear.

Callie was very straight and it appeared that while Erica had been opening her heart, reveling in the wonderful things Callie made her feel, Callie was after all just looking for a fuck buddy. Male or female? It didn't matter. Her or Mark? It depended on what she felt like that day. She had been such an idiot. She had confused her coming out and her friendship with Callie with love. It was stupid, but there it was. She couldn't take it back, but she could remove the problem. She could fix this. She knew how. That she could do. She needed to cut Callie out of her life and that meant leaving Seattle Grace. Besides, she wasn't really fitting in here.

She arrived at her destination and paused, staring at the Chief's office door, slightly ajar. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes and counted to ten, preparing herself for the encounter she was about to have. The Chief would insist she stay. He was no idiot. She was a world class surgeon. He would muster all his best arguments to try and thwart her resignation. But she knew it was the right thing and she knew she could convince him that she was right. She really didn't fit in at Seattle Grace. She still needed to learn how to teach and in this environment there was really no learning curve for attendings. They needed to know or it would be detrimental to the program. She had no friends, had not been able to establish real professional relationships with anyone, except perhaps Callie, but that was always more personal than professional.

Part of it was Seattle Grace itself. People didn't have professional relationships without involving personal ones and she just didn't do that. She knew that and Richard knew it. She just had to convince him that it really would not get better. She knew that he had held out hope that things would gel. She would become a better teacher to the residents and they would warm to her. But it wasn't going to happen. She knew she could be a better teacher, but not in this environment where the residents involved their personal lives in everything.

She let out a breath and knocked.

*******

It was all over Seattle Grace within thirty minutes. Erica didn't know how that had happened. She knew the grapevine was pretty impressive at Grace, but this must be some sort of record. Derek had already spoken to her and tried in a half-hearted way to convince her to stay. World class surgeon, residents need the instruction, it would hurt the hospital, blah, blah, blah. His words were empty and he knew it.

No one really wanted her here. Sure she brought a certain amount of prestige to the place, but she really didn't fit in. She had never really gotten past sarcastic remarks with Sloan or Shepherd. She had tried to be a part of their little boys club, but only out of a sense of principle, precisely because it was a boys club, but that was not the basis for real friendship. She knew she scared the residents and while she liked the feeling, she also knew that fear did not equal respect and she reluctantly admitted to herself, it didn't make the teaching easier. In the end, she knew that the hospital benefited from her presence, but it had nothing to offer her in exchange and that made all the difference. This was not the place for her. She had nothing to prove here.

She was in her office, collecting the few things she had actually brought with her from Mercy glancing at the door every now and then. She was not conscious of it. It was just something she was doing.

A knock.

She paused debating whether to answer. Deciding she really didn't have a choice she spoke.

"Come in."

The door swung open, but nobody stepped in. Erica's eyes were on the box on her desk and the collection of things she was moving from her desk to the box. She felt the influx of air, but did not hear footsteps or the shuffling of clothing signaling approach and that made her scared to look up.

"What can I do for you?" she asked trying to sound nonchalant, trying to quell the quiver she could hear in her own voice. She absentmindedly tucked her hair behind her ear, still not looking up. She would force whoever it was to speak first.

"So...."

It was a male voice. She had braced herself for the uniquely female timber of a certain orthopedic surgical resident, but this voice she was unprepared for. Her head shot up, eyes fastened on him, confirming what her ears had already told her.

"What do you want Sloan?" she asked her voice cold and sharp.

She couldn't help it. She really, really, really hated this guy.

"So you're leaving?"

He was leaning against the doorjamb, arms crossed in front of him.

"Yes, I am." she said focusing her attention back on the small collection of things she had to pack.

"I'll be attending rounds through the end of the week, but that's it."

"You can't leave." He was starting to sound whiny. She looked at him again, examining his face, his stupid little smirk, his relaxed demeanor.

"What do you want?" she asked not wanting to play games. That's all the people at this hospital were good at - playing games.

"You can't leave," he repeated sounding even whinier.

"I can and I am," she said still looking at him with cold eyes. She crossed her own arms. She would not let him get the best of her, not him, not this particular guy.

"No. You can't," he responded sounding just a bit more serious. "You can't do that to her."

She hadn't expected that. The change in his tone, the way his words seemed to soften, the vehement stress on the word _can't_ eventually giving way to a barely whispered _her_.

And then her anger flared. She was not the bad guy here.

"I'm not doing anything to her. I've never done anything to her, but offer her...." she stopped.

He was doing it again, getting under her skin, making her lose her composure. She had never let his snide remarks or innuendo get to her. But then Callie happened to her and her shields failed her. Erica seemed to have no shields against him when it came to Callie. His relationship with Callie had irritated Erica even before things between her and Callie had changed. His very presence had a decidedly negative impact on her. It put her in a bad mood and made her want to bite off people's heads. So she had to stop.

"She just needs more time," he said almost pleading.

"More time for what? To get men out of her system? To get you out of her system? That's not how it works. She's made it perfectly clear what she wants." She paused because she needed to gain control of her emotions before admitting the next part.

"And she doesn't want...what I want."

"You're wrong," he said.

He pushed himself away from the doorway, uncrossing his arms and flashing her his most brilliant smile. Before she could object, he was speaking again.

"But let's not dwell on that. Since you'll be leaving our fine hospital, even though I don't think you should, we need to bid you a proper farewell."

He stepped closer, but never invaded her personal space.

"Whadda ya say? Joe's? I'll buy."

He was up to something and she was trying to figure out what it was.

"Come on. A few drinks and then you can go, completely guilt free. Just a few drinks. I'm serious, I'm buying. You can even drink that expensive wine you like."

"I can buy my own drinks," she said as if he had insulted her. He hadn't. She knew that.

"Come on Dr. Hahn." He paused looking at her, trying to gauge how far he needed to go.

"I won't hit on you," he said.

Erica raised an eyebrow. He was serious.

"Please?" he tried.

He was practically begging now and reluctantly she found herself agreeing. She would go, say her goodbyes and have it done and over with. Then she could do her rounds during the week without never-ending goodbyes and be gone.

He saw the acceptance in her eyes.

"Great! I'm going to grab my things and come back for you."

He was out the door before she could object. God she hated that guy.

She looked at the clock. It was almost 7:45. She had planned to be gone by this time in order to meet....

"Shit!"

She reached for the phone, dialing Sam's number.

After some pleading and whining from Sam, Erica extended the invitation for drinks to Sam. She would make Mark buy Sam's drinks too. She told Sam to meet her at Joe's in 15 minutes. She had wanted to just postpone the dinner and meet up with Sam an hour later, but Sam insisted that she could do pre-dinner drinks with her soon to be ex co-workers.

Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad. She didn't really have any friends here anymore. It would be nice to have someone that was on her side, that didn't think she was some conniving, cold-heart, lesbian bitch, although the lesbian part of that would be a shock to Sam. She carelessly tossed more things in the box hoping to fill it before Mark's return. He could carry the damn thing to her car since this whole stupid thing was his idea.


	3. Chapter 3

Bullet Wounds and Broken Noses (Chapter 3)

Author: rcruz

_**Disclaimer:**____If I owned them, things would look a lot different. The characters, settings, established histories, and general Grey's Anatomy universe referenced in this work are properties of their respective owners. This is a work of fiction for entertainment purposes only. No copyright infringement is intended._

Author's Note: This is a very short piece that can be appropriately labeled AU. In this universe, the Stephens thing did not happen and Erica breaks up with Callie after she finds out about the whole Mark thing.

Show down at Joe's…

_Sometimes it is hard to see leaves. We know they are there, we see their shape, their color, but we miss them. We see trees, we see the forest, but miss the leaves that give life to the trees, collecting sunlight and water and the necessities of life. Sometimes we need someone to point them out, to push our faces in the trees, forget the forest and just see the leaves._

Chapter 3 - Callie

Sam parked as close as she could to Joe's. She had been afraid Erica would cancel their dinner date and even though Erica had not exactly tried to cancel, Sam had insisted on coming to Joe's to make sure she didn't. It had taken Sam only five minutes to find the place as she had been in the vicinity dropping off Kate, the star witness in the little adventure that had landed her at Seattle Grace this afternoon. She knew she would probably need to wait a few minutes for Erica to show up, but she figured she could get a beer while she waited. She was curious about the whole quitting thing. Erica had promised explanations later, but even to Sam it seemed sudden. She had not mentioned it earlier when Sam was at the hospital.

They had parted amicably enough, but when Sam had noticed that Dr. Torres woman watching them as they said their goodbyes, she had mentioned it to Erica whose whole demeanor had gone cold. What the hell was upwith that? She knew it had something to do with the Torres chick, since Erica's interactions with other staff members, as far as Sam could tell, were fine. Plus, she hadn't particularly felt comfortable with how the Torres woman was bunching up her fists as she looked their way.

She started the relatively short walk to the bar wondering if Dr. Torres would be there and not being able to decide if she wanted her to be there or not.

***********

Callie was drinking. A lot. Mark had just called to tell her that he was going to try and convince Erica to come to Joe's. That was good. Maybe Erica would show up and actually talk to her. It was a long shot, she knew. It was, after all, Mark. Erica hated him.

The music was loud and part of her itched to get on the dance floor and let out the wild energy that seemed to pour into her with every drink. Instead she sat and watched the door. Mark and Erica were due any minute. She watched and drank, her heart beat picking up every time she saw the bar's door swing open. The door opened again. Her heart rate picked up again, but it wasn't them. It was some tall chick she didn't recognize. Wait. She looked again. Fuck me! It was shaggy headed girl from the clinic, Erica's friend. She was still wearing that stupid Thundering Dyke's softball jersey she had walked out of the hospital in under her leather jacket. She was looking around intently as she made her way to the bar. Who in the hell was this woman? And more importantly, what was she doing here?

Callie watched her closely until shaggy head's eyes came around to Callie and stopped. She altered course slightly and came right up to Callie.

"Hey, Dr. Torres, right?" she held out her hand.

"Yeah," was all Callie could muster as she took shaggy's hand.

"I'm Sam. From this morning? You've seen me without my shirt?"

So has Erica, thought Callie as she watched Sam place her order.

"So, what are you doing here?" Callie said sounding defensive and very unwelcoming. She was starting to feel a little buzzed and a little uninhibited.

"I'm supposed to meet Erica and some work people I guess. We have dinner plans later."

Sam accepted the beer placed in front of her, left a few dollars on the bar and took a long swig.

"Dinner plans?" asked Callie.

Sam nodded. "Yeah. We're going to a little club my cousin owns. It's kind of a club and restaurant. We've missed her the last few months. I guess she's been really busy here."

"Yeah. She's been busy. So she used to go to this club often?" Somehow that didn't seem to make sense to Callie. Her straight laced girlfriend did not do clubs.

"Sure whenever she got a chance. Good Puerto Rican food, good music. I would be there all the time if I could."

Callie's eyes widened in surprise and she took a moment to really look at the woman.

"Why would your cousin own a club that serves Puerto Rican food?"

Sam rolled her eyes.

"Because he's Puerto Rican and he can cook. So am I by the way, in case you were wondering."

Callie blinked.

Oh what the fuck, thought Callie, downing another drink.

"That a problem?"

"No. I guess I just thought I was her token Latina friend."

Sam looked at Callie seriously. "Erica doesn't do token. As a _friend_ of Erica's, you should know that."

Callie said nothing, choosing instead to order another drink.

******************************

Something was definitely up, thought Sam sipping from her beer. She looked over her shoulder at the door not sure if she had done the right thing by sitting next to Dr. Torres.

"So are you friends or lovers?" Callie interrupted her musings.

"What?"

Sam shook her head and picked up her beer. "Listen, I'm going to wait over there..."

"Just answer the question. I need to know what I'm up against."

Sam furrowed her brow, confused. "How do you even know I'm gay? Is it my shoes?" she asked annoyed.

Callie gave her a look.

"Okay, I'm pretty obvious, but still. Look, Dr. Torres, I don't know what you're trying to get at, but it's really none of your business who I'm friends or lovers with."

"I'm talking about Erica!' said Callie clearly frustrated.

"What about Erica?" asked Sam still thoroughly confused by Callie's question and trying to work out exactly what the slightly drunk woman in front of her was trying to say.

"Erica and I are friends, which you already know. As far as I know Erica is not gay, so..." she stopped, thinking for a bit about her interactions with both women. HOLY SHIT!

She started to laugh. This cannot be happening, she thought.

"Wait a minute, wait, just wait. Are you and Erica...together as in together-together?"

Callie was not looking directly at Sam, but she did not hesitate to answer Sam's question, having wanted to shout it at her for the last five minutes.

"Yes! Yes... I mean no. We were, but I fucked it up and now we're not, but I intend to change that. So I need to know, why you are here and who in the hell you are."

Sam was stunned. Erica was involved with a woman? When in the hell had that happened? She turned her attention to Callie who seemed to want something from her.

"Dr. Torres..." Sam started to say, but she was stumped. Her mouth was open, but no words were coming out. Finally she seemed to compose some thoughts and continued.

"I'm Erica's friend, that's all. That's all we will ever be. So don't go all fatal attraction on me. But you'll have to excuse me if I'm a little...shocked, stunned, blown completely out of the water! I mean I didn't even know Erica had, you know, come out..." she drifted off thinking of their conversation in the hospital. Erica had told her that she needed to tell her something. Was this the something?

"Fuck," she said startling Callie a little.

But Callie ignored Sam's apparent shock.

"I'm sorry I'm being all...crazy I guess. I just...we broke up two days ago, but I have every intention of getting her back, so I kind of wigged when I saw you two together."

"Well that explains some things," said Sam. "So wait, how did this happen and why did you break up?"

Sam felt kind of guilty asking Callie for details of Erica's life. She knew Erica was very private, but she was way too curious to not ask.

"It just happened. One moment we were friends, the next…I couldn't stop thinking about kissing her."

Callie did not want to look at Sam as she said the next part, so she looked for Joe instead and signaled for another drink.

"As for the other thing, well I um...slept with someone else."

Sam had been in the process of opening the second beer that had appeared next to the empty one she had practically gulped down. She stopped.

"Son of a....You did what?"

"I know, I know. I fucked up."

"That doesn't even begin to cover it. That is one helluva of a fuck up."

"I did it twice."

Sam spit her beer out, spraying Callie liberally.

"Shit, sorry," she said.

She reached for napkins as she spoke and handed them to Callie hoping she would clean herself up. She certainly didn't want to touch her. This girl was bad news. Callie tried wiping the remnants of Sam's beer off her face and hair.

"Thanks a lot," said Callie. "This will really help me get her back, eau de Coors."

"Dr. Torres,"

"Call me Callie."

Sam thought hard about that. This woman had hurt her friend, probably badly. Deciding she needed to hear the rest of the story before telling her off completely, she relented.

"Okay, Callie."

But she was still pissed. "What the fuck, Callie? That's pretty unforgivable."

Callie's shoulders slumped and Sam felt a little tinge of regret. Drunk or not, the woman was obviously on shaky emotional grounds. Sam fidgeted with the label on her beer weakened by the condensation that had collected along the bottle's surface. She turned serious eyes toward Callie, softening her tone a little.

"I'm not sure you can come back from that, Callie."

She was thinking of Erica's smile and how it didn't quite reach her eyes. She thought of Erica's cold behavior and she started to feel the anger boiling in her stomach again, anger directed at the slightly sloshed woman sitting next to her. She tried setting the anger aside as Callie addressed her.

"I know, but we're going to have to because I hate not being with her. It sucks. I miss her and I just can't seem to..."

"Probably shouldn't have slept with someone else then," Sam interrupted. "Look Callie, sometimes the things we want and the things we can have are different." She shrugged wanting Callie to understand that there were some things that just happened a certain way, no matter how much you want them to come out differently. "If you hurt someone, as badly as I think you have, no matter how much it sucks, you might not be able to come back from that."

"Not in this case. I understand I fucked up, but I can't not be with her. I can't. The last couple of days…have not been good. I thought... I thought I was doing the right thing. I needed space to deal with everything, so I just let her go. But everyday, every hour, every minute… And then I saw you together and I realized it was mistake to let her go."

There were tears in her eyes, which she instantly wiped away with short angry motions and Sam started to feel like this was a bit more complex than she had originally thought.

"If you feel that strongly, why did you sleep with someone else?" Sam asked honestly perplexed.

"The first time because I thought I sucked at the sex and I wanted to get better."

Sam blinked rapidly. She was confused again. She had never heard that as an excuse for cheating in her life.

"That makes no sense."

"I know that NOW. But Erica was really, really good at it. I mean really good and I couldn't...go there...the first time because I was nervous. I didn't know what I was doing and I wanted to be better for her."

Okay, this woman had to stop with the images. It was bad enough to find out the way she did that Erica actually did play for her team, but it was quite another to hear the details of Erica's sex life. That was just too much.

"Ewww...Okay let's get something straight. First Erica is like a sister to me, so please no talk about how good she is in bed, okay? Second, that still makes no sense. Do you not know how this works? Practice girl, you just needed practice. And I mean practice with the person you want to be with. What did you do rent a service?" She paused to take a drink. She almost didn't ask, but the whole situation was just so weird, that she felt compelled to. "What about the second time?"

Callie looked down. "The second time I was freaking out because Erica told me I was her glasses. She had this moment after we...after I had figured out the sex thing." She looked up. "After, you know...and she told me she was gay and that I was her glasses and I got scared."

"So you slept with someone else? Does your brain work differently than everyone else's or something?"

What the hell had Erica gotten into with this woman?

Callie frowned. "I didn't feel gay. I don't feel gay now and I got scared and so I slept with a guy to see...to see if it was different. Erica was so sure of herself and I wanted to be too, but I wasn't. I wasn't ready."

"It was a guy? You slept with a guy? Oh, for Pete's sake woman!"

"Ugh, I know. I know. You don't have to say it."

But Sam was not done. She frowned. "What does that even mean? _I don't feel gay._ I don't feel gay either. I just am."

"Yeah well, I was freaking out. Don't tell me you didn't freak out when you first realized you liked girls."

Sam thought back. Actually she hadn't, but that wasn't really a fair comparison. Her cousin had come out first, so it wasn't new territory for her. Plus, she had had plenty of signs, so it hadn't really come as a surprise to her. Now Erica - that was a surprise. She would need to remember to ask Erica whether she had freaked out.

"I didn't, at least not like you did. Although honestly Callie, you're reaction's pretty extreme." She paused, thinking. "Maybe you're not gay, but what does that have to do Erica? They're separate issues."

"What do you mean, separate? No they're not."

Sam shrugged. "Yeah they are. How you feel about one woman has nothing to do with how you feel about all women. I knew I was gay because I always developed crushes on the female leads in movies, not because I was crushing on Sigourney Weaver. I mean who didn't crush on Sigourney Weaver in her underwear?"

"Me!" shouted Callie.

Sam gave her a look that said she absolutely did not believe her.

"Okay, maybe a little, but still, falling in love...I mean having feelings for another woman has to make you question things, right?"

"Of course. But if you like someone, if you really like someone, why are you sleeping with other people? I mean, I don't get it. How does that even become a possibility? When I like someone, I like them. I don't sleep with someone else just to make sure I really like the person I like."

Callie was silent. "You do if you're scared out of your mind."

"Well, okay, sure I'll give you that. If you're crazy you might do that. Are you crazy Callie?"

"I must be," said Callie running her hands through her hair in frustration.

Sam waited a while before starting up the conversation again.

"You said earlier that you weren't ready. Are you ready now?"

Callie looked at her. "All I know is that I want to be with her. I told her what I had done because I wanted to be with her. I wanted to start over. I didn't want to lie to her and she said it was okay."

"But it wasn't?"

She shook her head. "No, it so wasn't. She broke up with me."

"Wouldn't you have done the same thing if she had come to you and told you she had slept with someone else?"

Callie's eyes were angry. "I know what you're getting at. I have been betrayed. I was married once and my husband cheated on me with his best friend, so I know what betrayal feels like. Which is why I also know that forgiveness is possible."

"Then you should also know how hard it is to forgive that type of betrayal."

There were tears in Callie's eyes. Sam started to think that maybe this crazy half-drunk woman really did love Erica. She stared at her, not sure if she wanted to offer support or not. The tears were silent. Callie was making no noise. Her face was contorting weirdly and the tears just kept coming, but no sound came from her. It was eerie. Sam felt her resolve dissolving. She tried lightening the mood.

"So you were married? What the hell woman? How many lives have you led?"

There was a delay. Callie was obviously trying to get herself together. She blew her nose, wiped away her tears and looked up to answer Sam.

"Yeah, I was married for about five minutes."

"Does Erica know?"

"She helped me sign the divorce papers."

Sam ran her hands through her hair. Could there be more drama with these two?

Callie downed the last of her drink.

"Was it because of...you know...you and Erica?"

Callie frowned. She was looking at Sam like she was both crazy and an idiot.

"I just told you, it was because he cheated on me with his best friend!"

"Right, sorry. So he's gay too?"

"No. His best friend is a very attractive, blonde, ditzy, mean, very female doctor."

"Ah, one of those. Never did like blonde doctors personally." Sam winked at her.

Callie chuckled a little. "Don't worry. It was good. I mean, I was angry. Really angry for a really long time, but it was really the best thing that could have happened to me." She frowned. "Erica and I might not have...gotten together if that hadn't happened."

Sam tilted her head finding Callie's statement interesting. "Why do you say that?"

"She was really there for me. We became friends and then…" Callie spared a glance at Sam. Her voice went soft as she finished, "…more than friends. She was so…I can't explain it. I was really hurt by George, but Erica being there just made it easier, you know. It didn't hurt as much when I was with her and slowly, I just stopped thinking about George altogether and there was just Erica."

She shook her head. "I have to get that back. I messed up. I know that, but I can't…"

She closed her eyes and put her head down. "I saw the two of you and I thought…" She looked at Sam. "Well, you know what I thought. I felt like I was going to drown or something. You see, we broke up, but in my head that was not permanent."

Sam was sitting there, sipping her beer, looking at Callie and trying to figure out how much of Callie's confession was her heart and how much of it was the alcohol.

"Breaking up is usually kind of permanent," offered Sam.

"Yeah, well not for me and Erica. I thought she was just mad, which I get, but I still want to be with her. I just thought we needed space."

Sam signaled to the bartender.

"Can I get a really strong black coffee, cold or lukewarm?" she asked. He looked over at Callie and gave Sam a knowing smile.

"Sure thing."

Sam turned to Callie. "So, you want to get her back? Well, you're not going to do it by getting drunk."

"I'm not drunk. Not too much anyway."

"Yeah, well you're 2/3 of the way there." Sam wished she was at her cousin's. She knew the coffee there would scare anyone sober.

A short while later, a cup of coffee appeared in front of them along with a bottled water. Callie was eying the coffee curiously.

"I need cream."

Sam shook her head. "Just drink. And drink some water too. Erica will be here any minute. Drink fast."

Callie reluctantly began drinking wincing at the taste of the cold coffee.

"Are you gonna help me?"

"I don't know yet. I don't know if you're worth it." But despite the uncertainty behind the statement, she was smiling, which made Callie smile back at her and start drinking faster.

She had downed most of it before Sam asked: "Do you love her?"

"Yes, I do," said Callie, surprising herself at the revelation and at how quickly she had responded. She tried to clarify. "But it's all going too fast for me. I need time to process everything. I've been straight for thirty years and now all of a sudden I can't stop thinking about a woman."

"Do you always make life this complicated?" asked Sam with a slight chuckle. "What's there to process? Either you love her or you don't. Nothing else matters."

"It's not that easy."

"Yes, it is. You just need to accept that it is that easy and if you can't, then don't. Don't chase her if you're not ready."

There was no sound, no breeze, but as if by instinct they both turned as the door opened to reveal Mark and Erica walking in. Mark was searching for Callie. Erica was looking lost. She searched the room, her eyes finding Sam, but before a smile could form, her eyes moved mere inches and settled on the chocolate brown ones attached to the woman sitting next to Sam. She mouthed something that could have been what the fuck and started to walk out, but Mark seemed to be expecting it and grabbed her. Sam and Callie both winced, knowing that Mark had just made a huge mistake. His arm snaked around Erica's waist for a second before she pushed with one hand and punched him with the other.

Mark was a big guy, but he hadn't been expecting the punch or the force behind it and he went down hard. He grabbed his nose instinctively and felt wetness.

"Shit" said Erica as she watched him go down.

Sam had grabbed a towel from the bar and was on one knee in front of Mark in seconds handing it to him. "Here. You alright man?"

"No," he said sounding nasally and petulant.

Callie had gone to Erica. She was hovering, unsure of what to say and afraid that Erica would reject her. Deciding to be brave, she took a deep breath and spoke.

"Erica? Are you alright? Did he hurt you?" She reached for Erica's hand wanting to examine any damage.

"Did I hurt her? She punched me!" yelled Mark from his prone position on the floor.

"Shut up you idiot. You shouldn't have grabbed her," snapped Callie.

Callie had grabbed Erica's hand, surprised that except for some scratches everything seemed to be intact.

Erica had decided to ignore Callie's question because even she admitted it was ridiculous for Callie to be worried about her. She had done the punching. She didn't know how to respond to Callie's touch, so she ignored that too. She turned her attention to Mark.

"What the hell were you doing?" asked Erica.

Mark was looking up at her, but did not answer.

Callie chose that moment to speak. "No damage. God, Erica, where'd you learn to throw a punch?"

Sam got up and walk towards Callie and Erica. She had watched the whole scene unfold, had noted the semi-wild look in Erica's eyes. Erica was feeling trapped, she could tell. They needed to calm things down, get attention away from them. She saw Erica pull her hand out of Callie's grasp slowly, a little too slowly. Her hand looked fine. Sam smirked internally. Guess the lessons had stuck. Erica was looking at her now.

"You're not going to arrest me are you? Because he grabbed me first and he knows he should not have done that!" The last part was directed at Sloan who was struggling to stand up and hold a towel to his nose.

"Hold on there champ, no one's going to arrest you," said Sam holding her hands up in a placating gesture.

"I think my nose is broken." Mark was talking to Callie, but she was pointedly ignoring him and inching closer to Erica again.

"Erica?" said Callie.

"Callie? My nose?" whined Mark.

"Mark there is a hospital not fifty feet from here," she responded clearly irritated with him.

"Oh, I give up. I give the fuck up." He walked out the door.

Sam was shaking her head. She watched him walk out. She didn't know who he was, but it was clear that there was unresolved tension between the three of them.

"Shouldn't we make sure he's okay?" she said.

"No!" she heard in stereo from both Erica and Callie.

Yep, definitely tension. Sam shook her head again before addressing the two women.

"Okay, can we get out of here? I know this great little club with great food."

Erica definitely wanted to go. She wanted to forget this evening, the whole day, the whole month, the whole damn year.

"Yeah, let's go," she said as she walked out the door.

Sam turned around and motioned for Callie to join them. Callie did not need to be told twice.

14


	4. Chapter 4

Bullet Wounds and Broken Noses (Chapter 4)

Author: rcruz

_**Disclaimer:**____If I owned them, things would look a lot different. The characters, settings, established histories, and general Grey's Anatomy universe referenced in this work are properties of their respective owners. This is a work of fiction for entertainment purposes only. No copyright infringement is intended._

Chapter 4 – Conclusion

_Sometimes at the end of things, we can overcome our individual weaknesses. For just a moment one person moves faster, processes quicker, and realizes what she is in danger of losing. The other person slows down enough to take the curve at just the right pace, and stay on course. At the end of things, when that happens, they stand together and together must decide the pace and the road and the things they will not take for granted._

Outside, Mark was nowhere to be found. Sam hoped he had done the right thing and headed back to the hospital to have his nose looked at. He probably had. He was too pretty not to know it and guys like that wanted nothing messing up their pretty little faces.

She caught up to Erica who was making a beeline for her car at breakneck speed.

"Hey slow down."

Erica slowed, but when she noticed the other person trotting to catch up to them she stopped entirely, leveling a stare at Sam that left Sam feeling very, very cold.

"What?" Sam shrugged.

Callie caught up to them looking from Sam to Erica with concern.

"Um...everything okay?" she asked timidly.

"No," said Erica her voice sounding a little too even and controlled for Sam's comfort. "Everything is not okay." She was still staring at Sam.

Sam opted for self-preservation and lied.

"I saw Dr. Torres at the bar. She wanted to see the club." _That's right Ruiz, pretend you don't know anything about them, pretend Callie didn't just spill her guts to you minutes ago._

Erica switched gears. She looked at Callie, but Sam noticed that some of the coldness faded.

"Cal...Dr. Torres, would you mind giving us..." Erica closed her eyes clearly struggling with what to say.

"Please don't do that, Erica. Don't call me Dr. Torres like, like we were never...like we were never friends."

Erica looked defeated.

"Look, you all have fun. I'm going home."

Sam knew better than to grab her, but taking a chance, she stood in front of Erica, ready to take the charge.

"You promised me dinner and I told everyone you were coming."

"Sam. Get. Out. Of. My. Way."

Erica was seething.

Sam tilted her head.

"You said you were going to tell me something and I want to hear it. Plus, you quit your job today Erica."

"WHAT? You did what?" shouted Callie.

Callie had been listening intently, trying to figure out whether she should leave, when she heard Sam's plea and statement.

She surged forward pushing Sam aside and planting herself in front of Erica. She was no longer the whiny, slightly drunk, insecure woman Sam had seen at the bar.

"When the hell did this happen? Erica you can't leave."

The vehemence startled both Erica and Sam. Sam stepped back further and watched the two women. She had wanted a chance to see Erica and Callie together, wanting a better sense of Erica's feelings in all of this. This is not how she had envisioned it happening, though. She didn't know whether to really trust Callie's alcohol laced confessions, but on the surface at least she seemed to care for Erica.

She told herself that she needed to stick around, that Erica would need her. She had stepped back further to give them space, but in the dark still night, in a nearly empty parking lot, even whispers carry.

Erica shifted her focus from Callie to the stars in the sky, pointedly looking up and letting out a breath.

Callie must be a little beyond sense, thought Sam, watching her invade Erica's space and casually place her hands on Erica's chest. But Erica did not back away. She closed her eyes tightly and brought her head back down. Although her focus was no longer on the sky, she seemed to not want to look at Callie. She turned away.

"I can't stay here, Callie."

"Why not? Forget that. I don't want to talk about the hospital. I want to talk about me and you."

"There is no me and you."

Callie was silent for a moment.

"Look me in the eye and tell me there is no me and you."

Callie just stood there, hands still on Erica's chest, standing so close that Sam imagined they were breathing each other's air. She waited.

Sam saw the struggle. She heard Erica's uneven breaths, saw that her body was shaking probably from wanting simultaneously to be right there with the woman in front of her and wanting to run away. She saw the clenched white-knuckled fists at Erica's side and how Erica's eyes closed tighter, trying in vain to contain the tears that had started to slide down her face.

Callie continued to stand her ground and much to Sam's surprise, Erica opened her eyes. Callie curled her fingers around the collar on Erica's jacket and brought her closer, her eyes intensely focused on the glittering ones in front of her.

In a bare whisper she said, "Tell me there is no me and you, that you don't feel this, us."

"I can't," she heard Erica say in a hoarse whisper. "You know I can't."

"Then don't. Erica...I...I love you." Callie's own face glistened now, tears making silvery paths down her face.

Erica sucked in a breath and brought her hands up trying to push Callie away, but Callie held on.

"Don't," said Callie still whispering. "Don't make the same mistake I made. Don't push me away like I did to you. I need this. I need you. Please. Let me love you."

Sam was surprised by Callie's declaration and the intensity with which she was steadfastly hanging on to Erica. It seemed that the possibility of Erica leaving had helped clarify things for Callie.

Erica's hands had curled themselves around Callie's arms. She seemed stuck, undecided about whether she should pull Callie closer, or push her away. She closed her eyes again, but she leaned forward, resting her forehead on Callie's.

"I can't," she said, but the declaration sounded hollow to Sam who was still just standing there unsure of what to do, but fairly certain that she should probably do something like leave. But she found the drama unfolding before her holding her right there.

"I love you, Callie, but I can't. I can't. I don't want to hurt anymore."

"We are doing this Erica. Remember when you said that to me? I know it's hard, but we will get through this. Give me a chance to stop the hurt. Please. I want you. I want to love you, only you."

"You're not ready."

"I will make myself ready," said Callie with vehemence.

Erica lifted her head and shook it. "No. I don't want that. I don't want you to make yourself ready. I want you to be ready. I want you to want me."

Erica was looking at her with questioning eyes. "I'm not what you want, Callie."

She started pushing Callie away, but Sam could see the struggle she was still engaged it. Callie closed her eyes, causing the moistness collecting in her eyes to spill over. She clutched Erica's collar tighter and held her ground.

"Yes, you are. You are what I want. Please, don't do this, Erica. Please."

The plea was heart wrenching. Sam felt a lump forming in her throat. She saw Erica's resolve falter. She stopped pushing Callie away, bent her head again, letting it rest on Callie's.

"Please don't make this hard," she said.

"I want to make it impossible," responded Callie.

"Callie..."

"I love you, Erica. That's all that matters. I love you. I want to be with you. We can work this out. Please, just give us that chance."

"It's not that easy Callie."

"Yes, it is."

Erica lifted her head again and looked at Callie, whose hands were still wrapped in her jacket.

"A thousand pieces," said Callie. "I will break into a thousand pieces if you walk away."

"I'm already in a thousand pieces," said Erica.

But her hands had migrated to Callie's waist, her fist had uncurled and delicate fingers now rested lightly on Callie's hips. The wall, Sam realized was crumbling. Callie needed to just hang on tightly and wait for it to fall entirely, shield both her and Erica from the debris and step over it into the future.

Callie released Erica's collar. Sam watched the slow movement of Callie's hand as it made its way to Erica's cheek. She heard them both take in a breath as their flesh connected.

"Let me put you back together. I promise to put you back together, piece by piece and never let you break," Callie managed to get out though her voice shook.

Erica had her eyes closed again. They were swaying Sam noted, moving together to some unheard rhythm. Their mouths were moving closer.

"Cal..." said Erica.

"Heart and soul, Erica. I love you heart and soul. Let me show you."

"Okay," she heard Erica whisper, before the two women's lips finally met.

Sam could hear Callie's sigh from where she was. She turned around and thought about returning to Joe's and finding her car, but she waited. She still needed to do something.

She heard them taking deep breaths and risked turning around. They were staring at each other, hands clasped and smiling impossibly.

Sam cleared her throat.

"Listen I'm going to get going. We'll have dinner another time, all of us. Maybe tomorrow?" She asked, smiling at them. Callie had wrapped herself around Erica encircling her waist and just leaning into Erica's shoulder.

"Okay," she said.

Erica seemed dazed.

"I think I owe you an explanation. I'm sorry about all of this..." she looked at the woman next to her in wonder.

"I'll be happy to listen to your _explanations_ over dinner. Callie?"

"Yeah," murmured Callie.

"A word?"

Callie straightened, eyes widening in alarm. She looked at Erica unsure and reluctantly disengaged herself from Erica's arms, walking over to Sam with her hands in her pockets. She was looking everywhere but at Sam.

"Hey," she said trying to sound casual.

Sam smiled. "You hurt her again, and I will kill you," she said her smile never faltering.

"If I hurt her again, you won't have to. It would destroy me."

Sam patted her shoulder. "Glad we understand each other."

Sam walked back toward Erica engulfing her in a hug.

"I'm happy for you."

She stepped back giving Erica a long look before shaking her head. "I guess you were just waiting for the right woman after all."

Erica rolled her eyes, but she chuckled lightly. She looked wistfully at Callie standing a few feet away, trying to give them some space.

"I'm scared," she said. "I've been here before and had the rug pulled out from under me."

"There are no guarantees. You know that," said Sam.

"I won't survive it again." she looked at Callie again momentarily before looking down at her shoes. "But it's just too strong..." she shook her head.

"For what it's worth, I think she loves you. I think she wants to make it work."

"I hope so," said Erica.

"I think you know so," said Sam. "Go, get your girl. Tell me all about it tomorrow."

She watched Erica walk towards Callie again. She looked a little weary and tired as she walked. Callie, however, was confident, easily eating up the distance between them in a few steps and barreling right into Erica hugging her again and then stepping back and cupping her face, looking at her intently, almost as if she was willing Erica's doubts and reservations away. She kissed her again. Erica responded eagerly pulling Callie closer, kissing her back.

Sam started to walk away. They would work it out.

"See you girls tomorrow," she said. "And no more drama. I've filled my quota for this year."

The End

Author's Note: Final Chapter. It's been fun. Special thanks to those of you who have reviewed. It is as always most appreciated.


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